P&G settles lawsuit with Vidal Sassoon

Proctor & Gamble and Vidal Sassoon have announced that a
lawsuit claiming P&G had deliberated sabotaged Vidal Sassoon
hair care products in favour of other brands in the North American
and European markets has been settled to 'the mutual satisfaction
of all parties.'

Vidal
Sassoon​ brought the case against P&G in April year,
claiming that fraud and breach of fiduciary duty, after the company
had allegedly stopped producing a line of its products in favour of
one of its own brand, Pantene.

Vidal Sassoon claimed that P&G​ had made this move in an effort not to pay 1.5
per cent royalties on the production and distribution of its
products. After the law case came into play P&G suspended the
sale of all Sassoon products in North America and Europe, but in
other parts of the world production continued. Indeed, in the Asian
market the Vidal Sassoon hair care products remain top sellers.

Although the products remain off the shelves in North America,
P&G said it was committed to the line, over which it still has
the production rights.

An appeal to dismiss two counts of the law suit by P&G was
rejected by the US courts last month. Following this move, the
trial was scheduled for October, a procedure that was avoided
following concerted talks between the law representatives of each
company.

At the time Vidal Sassoon had said that he ultimately wanted to
buy back the licensing rights to his brand, a measure that P&G
was clearly not prepared to agree to, given the strength of the
brand.

Vidal Sassoon sold all the rights to his name and image to
Richardson-Vicks in 1982. In turn Richardson-Vicks was bought up by
P&G in 1985, giving it the rights to the Sassoon brand - rights
that were re-negotiated between Sassoon and P&G in 1988.

Vidal Sassoon claims that the developments of the Sassoon hair
care range have been used in the Pantene range, which in turn has
lost him millions of dollars a year.